01 07 Their Own Kind of Domestic
by NewDrWhoFan
Summary: A little glimpse of the Doctor and Rose between Series 1's "Dalek" and "The Long Game". Adapted from my longer story, "Better Than That", but more canonical and less Bad Wolf-y. Unfortunately. But still pretty fluffy!


_This little moment takes place just before "The Long Game". It's a slight reworking of Chapter 7 of my "**Better Than That**" story, unfortunately without so much of Bad Wolf's nudging/tinkering... Dedicated to **Dreamcatcher** over on Teaspoon (whofic dot com) in honor of a "**Better Than That**" review.  
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_Disclaimer: Surprise, surprise, I don't own _Doctor Who_. Nor do I get anything from writing these stories-except wonderful, constructive reviews! Wink, wink; nudge, nudge ;)_

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Rose knocked on the door to the spare TARDIS bedroom where she and the Doctor had stashed Adam the "night" before. "Adam?" she called, as she finished drawing her ponytail through its band. She knocked again, louder, not having heard any answer.

"Huh?" came his response, at last.

"Adam? It's Rose. Ya know where you are?" she asked. He'd been a little out of it after first coming on board the TARDIS, and had passed out in the console room when she had opened the doors for him onto actual outer space.

"Space ship," Adam replied. "TARDIS," he said, his voice drawing nearer. The door opened, revealing the frazzled young man.

"Sleep well?" Rose asked him as he stood, blinking, in the light of the corridor.

He yawned. "Sorry, yeah," he told her.

"There's breakfast, when you're ready," she offered.

"Uh... I mean, sure, I'll just," he gestured back over his shoulder into the room.

"Yeah," she allowed. "Ten minutes? I can come get ya."

"Thanks. Yeah," he told her, before stumbling back a step and closing the door once more.

Rose grinned to herself as she made her way back to the kitchen.

The Doctor was already there, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He had filled hers for her and placed it in her hands as she neared. "How's the intrepid explorer doin'?" he asked, grinning to himself without meeting her eyes.

"Probl'y likes the idea of space travel more than the reality, right now," she told him, passing him the sugar on her way to retrieve the milk from the refrigerator. She took a grateful sip of her coffee before leaving it on the counter. "Should we skip the Terulvian jam, ya think?" she asked, grabbing a jar of blackberry, instead.

"With his iron constitution?" the Doctor asked, piling toast on a plate. "I'd pass on the Terulvian; pity we haven't got any pabulum on hand."

Rose set the milk and jam out on the table, and took the toast from the Doctor. "I wish ya coulda heard 'im," she said, leaning back on the counter. "Braggin' 'bout hackin' the defense network an' all as a kid. Tryin' to convince me of all the alien life he was so sure was out there."

"How firmly are ya lookin' to put 'im in his place, then?" the Doctor asked, handing her the coffee again before leaning on the counter beside her.

"Ta," she told him, clinking their mugs together, then let out a breath, thinking it over. "Nothin' too drastic," she mused, "considerin' a nebula knocked 'im out cold for a few, solid minutes... Maybe future earth?" she suggested. "With lotsa alien interminglin'? Ooh, or a space station, maybe, like Platform One? But prob'ly without the explodin' planet."

The Doctor nodded as he took a sip of his drink. "Think I could accommodate that," he agreed.

Rose leaned her head on the Doctor's shoulder. "Should we tell 'im 'bout the time travel, ya think? Before we get there, I mean?"

"Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you needin' to teach someone a lesson," he said, smiling down at her.

"But still, that's a 'no'?" she grinned at him.

"Definite 'no'," he confirmed.

Rose shifted her mug to her other hand to link arms with him.

"We can scope out the lie of the land," the Doctor suggested. "Tell 'im we need to make sure it's safe, and I'll give you a few pointers on assessin' our new surroundin's. Show 'im how a real space traveler operates."

Rose lifted her head to turn towards him, genuinely surprised. "Ya mean, I get to be the impressive one?" she asked. She had wanted to share her knowledge of the wonders of the universe, but those wonders had included the Doctor.

"Your boyfriend; I don't need to show off for 'im," the Doctor shrugged.

Rose rolled her eyes. "What's that say 'bout you showin' off for me, then?" she countered.

"'S not showin' off," he denied.

"Oh, please!" she laughed. "You can't even make a coffee without showin' off," she told him, draining the last of the delicious brew from her mug before setting it down. The timer ding'ed, and Rose reluctantly let the Doctor's arm slip free so that he could retrieve the eggs from the stove top.

"While I get these," he said, balancing one of the eggs in an eggcup, "why don't you go get your egghead? 'Fore he gets lost in the corridors." The Doctor gave the egg a single, precise WHACK! with the edge of a spoon, and removed the top half of the shell in one perfectly clean piece.

Even from behind, Rose could clearly picture his self-satisfied grin, just from the shift of his ears. "Show off," she repeated, with her own, playful WHACK! to the back of the Doctor's head as she left the kitchen to find their guest.

"Ah, but ya love me for it," Rose heard him reply.

She was glad she was already through the doorway and on a mission, saving Rose from any expectation of a rebuttal. Her stomach fluttered delightfully at his words; but she could also feel a blush threatening, one that was sure to give her away - sooner rather than later - if she wasn't more careful around her highly impressive alien.

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_The end. _

_I hope you enjoyed. I think I like the idea of the Doctor allowing Rose's strays on board, mostly so that she can see why she shouldn't need more than him ;-)  
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